November 26, 2013

November 22, 2013

We kicked off October with a hayride to the Pumpkin Patch at Tanglewood. Clara had fun checking out all the pumpkins and choosing the perfect one. It was a fun way to get in the mood for Fall (even if it was way too warm for October!)

One of our October highlights was Homecoming. Hard to believe it's been ten years since we graduated from Wake. Our dear friends the Wingfields made the trek down from Indiana to spend a few days with us and I didn't do as good of a job as I should have of taking photos of these sweet girls together. They had so much fun being together (and so did the grownups!) I'm thankful that I know we won't have to wait ten years before we're back together with them again.

Friday night was our "reunion party" and it was fun to see people that we really hadn't seen in nearly ten years and catch up with folks from our class (plus visit with some folks we do get to see, thank goodness!).

The weather on Homecoming Day was cold and dreary, but we pushed through and enjoyed the Festival on the Quad and the Tailgate before taking the littles home to crash. (Clara was cute too, but you can't see her outfit because it was too cold!)

And of course we can't finish up October without some Halloween photos. When I was growing up we always bought the plastic masks and accompanying poncho-like "costumes" at the drug store and that was Halloween. I always wanted to channel some of my inner-craftiness and have homemade costumes (not necessarily SEWN, but "put together" at home) for my kids. I had a hard time deciding what Clara should be this year, knowing that it might be one of the last years that I can steer her choice in the direction I want and also knowing that it was going to be pretty hard to beat the Oreo from last year. My other absurd and ridiculous self-imposed "Halloween Costume Rules" (ever-evolving, but at least for this year) included: I wanted it to somehow represent something about who Clara is and what she loves and also didn't want a character. We don't watch much TV and I know that the day will come when that's all she wants to be, so I wanted that off the table for now.

So, with all that said, Clara loves to be outside and has a natural love for God's creation that touches me in a special way. When she was first learning to talk and make animal sounds, my friend Sarah (bird-nerd extraordinaire) taught her several different bird calls. Her favorite was the chickadee (chickadeedeeedeeeeeee), so when she told us she wanted to be a bird this year, her costume idea was born. It took $6 worth of felt, an entire Saturday and more hot glue burns than I'd care to admit, but her Carolina Chickadee costume turned out pretty cute and she loved it. Mission accomplished.

We celebrated Halloween the whole week long. There was a carnival at Salem on Tuesday night, the church carnival and trunk or treating at KBC on Wednesday and then lots of visits to special friends and and a little trick or treating on Halloween. By the time Thursday night rolled around, I was worn out!

This was the first year that Clara fully understand CANDY and the madness that really is Halloween. She caught on very quickly to the whole "treat or treat" concept and was excited on Halloween night to finally dump out her loot and try a little of all these new candies. Her favorite? The Kit Kat.

And here's just a couple of random October photos of the "Everyday" off my phone.

Chilling in her tent, eating a snack, and listening to books on tape...

She's so big!

There's one more big October highlight (VACATION!) that gets a post of its own, so that will be coming next!